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The ruling on swearing by Allah truthfully and falsely
Original (Arabic): https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/12/حكم-الحلف-بالله-صدقا-وكذبا
Question: I have a relative who swears frequently by Allah, whether truthfully or falsely. What is the ruling on this?
Answer: He should be advised and told: You should not swear excessively, even if you are truthful, because of the saying of Allah, Glory be to Him and Exaltedand his saying ﷺ: Three whom Allah will not speak to, nor look at on the Day of Resurrection, nor purify, and for them is a painful punishment: an old man who commits fornication, a poor man who is arrogant, and a man who makes Allah his merchandise, buying only by his oath and selling only by his oath..
And the Arabs used to praise sparingness in oaths, as the poet said:
What is prescribed for the believer is to minimize oaths, even if he is truthful, because excessive use of them may lead him into falsehood.
And it is known that lying is haram, and when combined with an oath it becomes more severely haram, but if necessity or a preponderant interest calls for a false oath, then there is no harm in that, due to what has been established from the Prophet ﷺ from the hadith of Umm Kulthum bint Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Prophet ﷺ He said: The liar is not the one who reconciles between people, saying good or conveying good. She said: and I never heard him grant a concession in anything of what people call lying except in three: reconciliation between people, war, and a man's speech to his wife, and a woman's speech to her husband. Narrated by Muslim in his Sahih.
And if, in reconciling between people, he says: By Allah, your companions love reconciliation and love that the word be united, and they want such and such, then he goes to the others and says similar to them, with his intention being good and reconciliation, then there is no harm in that, due to the aforementioned hadith.
Likewise, if a person sees someone who wants to kill another person unjustly, or wrong him in some other matter, and he says to him, "By Allah, he is my brother," in order to save him from this wrongdoer, when he wants to kill him without right or strike him without right, and he knows that if he says "my brother," the wrongdoer will leave him out of respect for him, then this is obligatory upon him for the benefit of saving his brother from injustice.
And the point is: the basic ruling concerning false oaths is prohibition and impermissibility, unless a greater benefit results from them that outweighs the lying, as in the three instances mentioned in the aforementioned hadith.[1].
لَا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِٱللَّغۡوِ فِيٓ أَيۡمَٰنِكُمۡ وَلَٰكِن يُؤَاخِذُكُم بِمَا عَقَّدتُّمُ ٱلۡأَيۡمَٰنَۖ فَكَفَّٰرَتُهُۥٓ إِطۡعَامُ عَشَرَةِ مَسَٰكِينَ مِنۡ أَوۡسَطِ مَا تُطۡعِمُونَ أَهۡلِيكُمۡ أَوۡ كِسۡوَتُهُمۡ أَوۡ تَحۡرِيرُ رَقَبَةٖۖ فَمَن لَّمۡ يَجِدۡ فَصِيَامُ ثَلَٰثَةِ أَيَّامٖۚ ذَٰلِكَ كَفَّٰرَةُ أَيۡمَٰنِكُمۡ إِذَا حَلَفۡتُمۡۚ وَٱحۡفَظُوٓاْ أَيۡمَٰنَكُمۡۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمۡ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَشۡكُرُونَ
Allah will not punish you for what is uninentional in your oaths, but He will punish you for your deliberate oaths; for its expiation (a deliberate oath) feed ten Masakin (poor persons), on a scale of the average of that with which you feed your own families; or clothe them; or manumit a slave. But whosoever cannot afford (that), then he should fast for three days. That is the expiation for the oaths when you have sworn. And protect your oaths (i.e. do not swear much). Thus Allah make clear to you His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) that you may be grateful.
Qur'an 5:89 — trans. Hilali & Khan
And the Arabs used to praise sparingness in oaths, as the poet said:
He rarely swears an oath, but keeps his word,
and when he does swear, his oath proves true.
And al-yamin: it is the oath.What is prescribed for the believer is to minimize oaths, even if he is truthful, because excessive use of them may lead him into falsehood.
And it is known that lying is haram, and when combined with an oath it becomes more severely haram, but if necessity or a preponderant interest calls for a false oath, then there is no harm in that, due to what has been established from the Prophet ﷺ from the hadith of Umm Kulthum bint Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Prophet ﷺ He said: The liar is not the one who reconciles between people, saying good or conveying good. She said: and I never heard him grant a concession in anything of what people call lying except in three: reconciliation between people, war, and a man's speech to his wife, and a woman's speech to her husband. Narrated by Muslim in his Sahih.
And if, in reconciling between people, he says: By Allah, your companions love reconciliation and love that the word be united, and they want such and such, then he goes to the others and says similar to them, with his intention being good and reconciliation, then there is no harm in that, due to the aforementioned hadith.
Likewise, if a person sees someone who wants to kill another person unjustly, or wrong him in some other matter, and he says to him, "By Allah, he is my brother," in order to save him from this wrongdoer, when he wants to kill him without right or strike him without right, and he knows that if he says "my brother," the wrongdoer will leave him out of respect for him, then this is obligatory upon him for the benefit of saving his brother from injustice.
And the point is: the basic ruling concerning false oaths is prohibition and impermissibility, unless a greater benefit results from them that outweighs the lying, as in the three instances mentioned in the aforementioned hadith.[1].
- Majmu' Fatawa Ibn Baz (1/54).